Washington man hit, killed by street sweeper

By

Ray Downs

Feb. 19 (UPI) -- One man is dead in Bellevue, Wa. after he was hit and killed by a street sweeper vehicle, police said Monday.

Police were called to the scene late Monday morning and found the 44-year-old man underneath the street sweeper. A preliminary investigation found that the vehicle, which was operated by a private contractor, was backing up in a closed lane when the man was struck.

"The driver of the sweeper truck is cooperating with the investigation, and no impairment is suspected on the part of the truck driver," police said in a statement.

There was no sidewalk on the street where the incident occurred, the Seattle Times reported. The location was also next to the site of a large construction project for an apartment building.

Police were called onto the scene at 10:49 a.m. and the victim's body was still caught under the vehicle as of 12:44 p.m., according to KIRO-TV.

The victim has not yet been publicly identified.

Several people have been killed in street sweeping accidents across the country in recent years.

In June, a Florida man was killed by a street sweeper after he got caught underneath the vehicle while trying to clear an object from the sweeping machine.

In October, the widow of a New York City sanitation worker who died after getting hit by a runaway street sweeper in 2014 was awarded $41.5 million.